In Game Blog: Women's Hockey vs. Lindenwood

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - Welcome back to
in-game coverage of 2012-13 Nittany Lions women's hockey season. Insight and reaction will be provided by
GoPSUsports.com throughout the game, so check back often as the action unfolds.

1st Period: 14:04 - Penn State 0,
Lindenwood 0The start to this game has been better than most for the Nittany Lions, as
they have spent a nice chunk of time in the Lindenwood zone and connected on a
bevy of passes. Both teams have had good chances to score, with Birdie Shaw and
Taylor Gross both watching their shots from point blank get saved by Nicole
Hensley. Kelsey Talbot had a nice opportunity for LU, but it was padded away by
Paniccia to keep the game scoreless.

1st Period: 9:22 - Penn State 0,
Lindenwood 0Nicole Paniccia stood tall in goal on the first power play of the afternoon
and the Nittany Lion penalty kill helped with a couple of blocked shots. The action
has been up and down the ice quickly between these two squads and PSU has done
a nice job limiting LU's time in their zone, but the forecheck will have to
pick up if the Nittany Lions continue to dump the puck into the offensive zone.
Penn State will now go on the power play after a roughing call on the Lady
Lions.1st Period: 6:20 - Penn State 1, Lindenwood 0The
power play didn't provide much offense for the Nittany Lions, but shortly after
Lindenwood returned to full strength a nice defensive effort from Shannon
Yoxheimer turned into offense and gave the Nittany Lions their first lead of
the afternoon. After Yoxheimer chipped a puck out of her own zone, Shaw tracked
down the puck on the opposite end and found Emily Laurenzi, who found the back
of the net on a nice shot for her third goal of the season. It's amazing what
an early goal does for confidence as Paniccia sprung out of net as the goal was
scored in celebration.

End of 1st Period - Penn State 1,
Lindenwood 0It was the start that Penn State needed against Lindenwood, with Paniccia continuing
her solid play in net and the offense applying a lot of pressure on the other
end. The Blue and White will now have to
add to the early tally from Laurenzi to improve their chances of moving up in the
CHA standings. Paniccia and Co. has been good in net with a lead, owning a
5-0-1 record when entering the first intermission with a lead. Penn State has
won eight of the 15 faceoffs and outshot Lindenwood 14-12 in the opening 20
minutes.

2nd Period: 14:00 - Penn State 1,
Lindenwood 0The puck spent the first 45 seconds of the second period in the Lindenwood
zone and the Nittany Lions had a pair of good scoring chances, but the next two
minutes was all Lindenwood as the Lady Lions almost tallied the equalizer.
Unlike the opening 20 minutes, the second period has not been as crisp for the
Nittany Lions. The two early chances are all that they have had through the
first six minutes and a couple of errant dump-in passes have led to nothing for
PSU.

2nd Period: 8:52 - Penn State 1,
Lindenwood 0Yoxheimer had the best look so far in the second period for Penn State, but
her slap shot from the blue line was padded away by Hensley. The last five
minutes for the Nittany Lions have been a little crisper, which has led to more
pressure on Hensley and less on Paniccia. Hannah Hoenshell was on the door
step, but a bouncing puck skipped over the blade of her stick and Hensley was
able to knock the puck away.

2nd Period: 7:45 - Penn State 1,
Lindenwood 1The equalizer was scored on the power play for Lindenwood and there was
nothing that Paniccia could do about it. The junior saved a bevy of
opportunities from Lindenwood, but the traffic and pressure in front of the net
was too much. A shot from the point was saved, as well as the follow attempt,
but Alyssa West stood strong on the doorstep and put in the equalizer past a
sprawled out Paniccia.

End of 2nd Period - Penn State 1,
Lindenwood 1Taylor McGee - who is celebrating her birthday today - had a nice full strength
shot from the blue line that was saved by Hensley and that was about all until
a Penn State power play started with two minutes left in the period. The player
advantage started well for PSU, with Yoxheimer talking an uncontested shot from
the left faceoff circle. The shot was saved and Holdcroft had a chance on the put
back, but Hensley stood tall again. Yoxheimer and Desorcie each had a crack at
the goal on the power play, but could not find the net. PSU took a penalty late
in the period and Lindenwood will start the third period with 1:06 left on the power
play.

3rd Period: 18:59 - Penn State 1,
Lindenwood 2The player advantage worked in favor of Lindenwood for the second time in the
game, as Chelsea Witwicke was the beneficiary of a loose puck in front of the
net after Paniccia made two saves prior. The puck was sent on net by West and
Allysson Arcibal had a follow up chance. Paniccia lost her balance on the second
save and could get her glove in front of Witwicke's shot and the junior
defender added a goal to her earlier assist.

3rd Period: 11:59 - Penn State 1,
Lindenwood 2A boarding penalty pushed Penn State onto the power play and a roughing
call gave the Nittany Lions a 5v3 advantage, but a couple of nice clears by
Lindenwood and five saves by Hensley kept the Lady Lions in front of the
Nittany Lions. Gross had a couple of chances on the power play, but came away
with nothing to show for it. Yoxheimer had the opening shot that was saved by
Hensley and Desorcie had a clear look at the net, but a nice recovery by
Hensley kept Penn State off the scoreboard.

3rd Period: 6:52 - Penn State 1,
Lindenwood 2The last five minutes have been full of action on both ends of the ice and
Paniccia has done all she can to keep her team in this game. Penn State had a
chance to grab the equalizer when Shaw just missed on a connecting pass with a
wide open Holdcroft in the slot. Lindenwood has continued to apply pressure on Paniccia,
but the junior has made 40 saves, so far.

FINAL - Penn State 1, Lindenwood 2Even playing with an empty net and six skaters for the final 75 seconds,
the Nittany Lions couldn't get anything past Lindenwood goalie Nicole Hensley
after tallying the opening goal in the first period. Caitlyn Post netted the
third goal of the game into the open net with 25 seconds left to play and that
was too much for the Nittany Lions to overcome.

It was the first loss this season when the Nittany Lions led entering the first
intermission and the climb out of the sixth spot in College Hockey America will
be a tough one for the Blue and White. Penn State needs a win tomorrow vs.
Lindenwood to pull closer to the fifth place Lady Lions.

Nicole Paniccia may not have the stats in the win column, but this girl can
play. She ended the night with 42 saves to mark the 10th time this season that
she has topped the 40-save mark. Both goals came on the power play and an empty
netter - not charged to the goalies goals against average - closed out the
scoring for the Lady Lions, however, it was much closer than the final score
indicated.

Quick Change Press Conference Quote

"We played our best hockey in the first period and we know that we could've
played that way the whole game. That's why it's disappointing. We need to come
out with better intensity throughout the game tomorrow."
-Junior goalie Nicole Paniccia

"The second goal was frustrating. I thought I had [saved] it, but it got away
from me and they were able to score."
-Junior goalie Nicole Paniccia

"We were down there on the forecheck and Birdie [Shaw] made a beautiful pass
and I was able to make it count."
-Freshman Emily Laurenzi

What To Look For:
- Penn State and Lindenwood hold down the fifth and sixth spots in the College
Hockey America standings entering the final three weekends of the regular
season. The Nittany Lions can pull within one point of the Lady Lions with a
pair of wins this weekend, before closing out the season at third place RIT and
fourth place Robert Morris.

- Freshman Shannon Yoxheimer is among the top scorers in the CHA and ranks
third on the rookie scoring charts in the conference. Yoxheimer is tied for
fifth in goals scored in the CHA with Jenna Dingeldein of Mercyhurst with 12
and her 14 assists are tied for eighth in the conference. She also has three game winning goals, which
ranks fourth, and has accumulated 26 total points which is tied for seventh.

- These two teams split a pair of earlier contests at the Lindenwood Ice Arena
in Wentzville, Mo. With the Lady Lions grabbing a 5-1 victory on Friday, Nov.
16 and Penn State claiming a 3-2 triumph on Saturday, Nov. 17. Yoxheimer had
three assists on the weekend, while Jill Holdcroft tallied one goal in each
game vs. Lindenwood.